How to quickly and easily calculate the price of windows and choose the best window solution?
Save a lot of time and effort by learning what factors impact the price of windows and how to make quick cost estimations of windows by yourself.
Where will the windows go?
The aim of this blog post is to help the client choose the best window solution for him already at the beginning.
At debesto, the first question we usually ask our new B2B clients or old B2B clients who start new projects is: “Where will the windows go?”.
- For example, will they go to a very passive, highly insulated single-family house, where the client and his descendants will live for a hundred years?
- Will they go to a public building which will be frequently visited by the public?
- Will they go to an old tenement house for which the conservation officer demands wooden windows?
- Or maybe they will go to flats for rent with an owner who is not interested in making big investments and only needing double pane uPVC windows?
Have a look at some of the projects we have completed
Remember!
Knowing where the windows will go, we can move forward and make a decision on the selection of the window frame material.
uPVC, aluminum or wooden windows?
The client should now decide what he wants and see what he can afford.
As far as the window frame material is concerned, there are three main options to choose from – uPVC, aluminum and wood.
First, we have the cheapest white uPVC windows. Before going into details and analyzing concrete examples, if we assume that they cost X USD on average, then we can roughly estimate that the price of the wooden windows made of pine will be 2,5x USD on average and the aluminum windows will cost 3x USD on average.
This very simple calculation will show the client more or less whether he has to invest, for example, 10,000 USD in white uPVC, 25,000 USD in pine or 30,000 USD in aluminum windows.
Remember!
These are average rough estimations on the example of triple glazed windows. The price will vary depending on a number of criteria.
debesto’s windows price lists
For more detailed information, you can check our price lists for business clients. There we present and compare the prices of our most popular uPVC, aluminum and wooden windows in the most popular sizes:
If you have questions, please, do not hesitate to contact us!
Specificity of the wooden windows
Let me show you the case with the wooden windows. If the cheaper pine windows cost x USD, then the better meranti windows will cost approximately x USD + 30% and the price of the expensive oak windows will be around x USD + 70%.
Knowing this, the client can decide whether he wants, for example, softwood windows made of pine for 10,000 USD, hardwood windows made of meranti for 13,000 USD or premium hardwood windows made of oak for 17,000 USD.
Usually, the price of the triple glazed pine windows is around 21 USD per sq ft, while the triple glazed meranti and oak windows cost around 27 USD and 35 USD per sq ft, respectively.
Check the wooden windows in our offer
Interesting!
The price of the triple glazed meranti windows is very similar to the price of the triple glazed aluminum windows.
Alu-clad windows
Furthermore, we have the popular solution of adding aluminum cladding exterior mainly to pine windows to form the so-called alu-clad or composite windows.
This increases the price of the pine windows by approximately 50% or 9 USD to around 27 USD per sq ft.
Aluminum cladding exterior, which increases the durability and minimises the maintenance of the wooden windows, can also be added to meranti and oak windows.
More info about our alu-clad windows
Remember!
Adding aluminum cladding exterior to pine, meranti and oak windows will increase their price per sq ft by around 9 USD to approximately 27 USD, 32 USD and 40 USD per sq ft, respectively.
Double glazed and triple glazed windows
One of the main factors which impacts the price of the windows and the purchase decision of the client is the glazing unit or the choice between a double and triple pane option.
There is a situation which occurs very often: a client calls me and says that he needs double glazed windows. Then he also asks me for a price estimation of triple glazed windows just in case, so he can present both variants to his investor who will make the final decision.
In this instance, I tell the client that I will prepare for him a price estimation for the double glazed windows. The triple glazed windows should be more expensive than the double glazed windows by approximately 25%.
Important!
For example, if the price of the double glazed windows is 10,000 USD, the triple glazed windows should cost around 12,000 or 13,000 USD.
uPVC vs. aluminum windows
Speaking more concretely and comparing the price per sq ft of the uPVC and aluminum windows, we can say that:
- the double glazed white uPVC windows will cost around 6.5 USD per sq ft
- the double glazed uPVC windows with a colored veneer on both sides will cost around 9 USD per sq ft
- the triple glazed white uPVC windows will cost approximately 8 USD per sq ft
- the triple glazed uPVC windows with a colored veneer on both sides will cost approximately 12 USD per sq ft
- the double glazed aluminum windows will cost around 24 USD per sq ft
- the triple glazed aluminum windows will cost around 26 USD per sq ft.
Check the uPVC windows in our offer
Check the aluminum windows in our offer
Interesting!
Colored triple glazed aluminum windows (26 USD per sq ft) are only 2,15 times more expensive than the triple glazed uPVC windows with a colored veneer on both sides (12 USD per sq ft)!
Fixed or floating mullion in a double leaf window?
I can show you one more popular case. A client would like to receive a price estimation for a double leaf window.
Therefore, I am asking him if he prefers a fixed or a floating mullion, and he asks me which of them is cheaper.
I answer that the floating mullion is slightly cheaper, and the client requests a price estimation for a double leaf window with a floating mullion.
But he also asks me how much more expensive is the variant with a fixed mullion. I reply quickly that:
Remember!
Usually, the fixed mullion in a double leaf window should be more expensive than the floating mullion by approximately 20-40 USD.
Adding muntin bars to the windows
Another example that comes to my mind is the one with the muntin bars, which are used to make the windows look more attractive.
After receiving a price estimation for the requested windows, clients often ask what will be the cost of adding muntin bars to the windows.
If the client needs only the approximate price, it is not necessary to make time-consuming precise calculations.
I answer that, in a window of 3 sq ft, depending on the type of the muntin bars, one divided lite should additionally cost between 10 and 20 USD.
Important!
For example, if you have a window with dimensions 3 ft x 3 ft and you want to install one vertical and one horizontal muntin bar, you will have 4 lites and the window will cost between 40 and 80 USD more.
Color of uPVC windows
It may not be so obvious, but the color can have a serious impact on the price of the windows, particularly on the uPVC windows.
The price of the uPVC window depends on whether the color is standard or non-standard (slightly more expensive) and whether it is applied on one or both sides of the window frame. Usually, we can say that:
- A uPVC window with a frame covered with a colored veneer on the outside will be more expensive than the white uPVC window by approximately 20% (standard color) or 25% (non-standard color).
- A uPVC window with a frame covered with a colored veneer on the inside will be more expensive than the standard white uPVC window by approximately 25% (standard color) or 30% (non-standard color).
- If the uPVC window frame is covered with colored veneers on both sides, its price will be around 40% (standard color) or 45% (non-standard color) higher than the price of the standard white uPVC window.
Specific cases
In order to perfectly meet their preferences, clients can also order bespoke sophisticated colors. uPVC windows with veneers in bespoke sophisticated colors on both sides can often be more expensive than the white uPVC windows by 50% or even 60%.
Furthermore, there is an option for the color to be added to the uPVC window frame during the production process. This will make the window much more abrasion resistant than the windows with a colored veneer, but will also raise its price even by 80% in comparison with the standard white uPVC window.
Color of wooden and aluminum windows
Color does not increase the price of the wooden and aluminum windows as much as in the case of the uPVC windows:
- Placing the same color on both sides of a wooden window usually increases its price by 7% to 15%.
- Aluminum windows are available in most of the RAL colors, and the price of the color is usually included in the price of the window.
Interesting!
Adding anodized colors on the inside and outside of the aluminum windows improves their durability but also drives their price up by at least 20%.
Safety and security windows
Another factor that impacts the price of the windows is the strength of the glass. Using laminated or tempered glass for safety and security reasons can make the windows significantly more expensive. For example:
- strengthening the window with a glass of protection class P2 will increase its price by approximately 5 USD per sq ft.
- strengthening the window with a glass of protection class P4 will increase its price by approximately 6 USD per sq ft.
For the best protection, the safety and security windows should also have quality hardware:
- adding hardware of resistance class RC1 to the window leaf will make it more expensive by around 20 USD.
- adding hardware of resistance class RC2 to the window leaf will make it more expensive by around 35 USD.
Comparing the uPVC sliding doors
The cheapest solution among the uPVC sliding doors are the PSK doors, which are not very user-friendly, have a high threshold and a higher risk of damage.
The better options are the Smart Slide doors and the HST doors, which are more expensive than the PSK doors by approximately 70% and 150%, respectively. They are both very easy to use and the risk of damage is practically non-existing. Furthermore, the HST doors have a very low threshold.
Prices of doors with two sashes with dimensions of 8 ft 2.42 in x 7 ft 2.61 in:
- PSK costs around 590 USD
- Smart Slide costs around 990 USD
- HST costs around 1,470 USD
Detailed comparison of the uPVC sliding doors
Frameless aluminum sliding windows and doors
These are premium products which may cost from several thousand to tens of thousands dollars.
Depending on the manufacturer, significant price differences may occur even in the case of aluminum sliding doors and windows of very similar or almost identical parameters.
The driving force is another key factor which has a huge impact on the price. Automatic aluminum sliding doors and windows are usually twice as expensive as the manual ones.
Our ranking of frameless aluminum sliding systems
Remember!
Additionally, the price is also influenced by other factors such as color, opening scheme, threshold type, protection class of the glass, level of UV protection, level of light, heat and sound transmission, etc.
In order to make more detailed cost estimations, you can visit our online calculators
If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
